Vexed Bermoothes

Blustery Opinions From Bermuda

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Entries Tagged as 'Media'

Official State Media

June 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off · Media

I may not have gotten a Christmas card, but I did get the nifty “alternative media” postcard from Government this week. Shucks, they forgot to include Hott on the list of official PLP/Government news sites. Hott: Where the Senators Spin.

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Intellectually Bereft

May 21st, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media

David Burt wrote a contorted opinion for the Bermuda Sun last week comparing the Royal Gazette to Fox News saying: “if you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes truth” I am not sure if that’s his accusation or his colleagues’ philosophy. Take a read of the comments posted by readers.  Here’s a taste: I [...]

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Freedom of the Tweet

May 19th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media

Reluctant to talk with the mean ole media, the Premier has posted a brief justification on Facebook for granting a two-year sole source contract extension to GlobalHue, despite legitimate concerns over the success of the agency in attracting tourists to Bermuda and complaints from the Auditor General regarding the agency’s billing practices. Yes, on Facebook.  [...]

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Soft Censorship

May 12th, 2009 · Comments Off · Media

The wrong-headedness of the Bermuda Government’s recent attempts to muzzle the media in Bermuda is attracting more external attention: More trouble in paradise for the staff of Bermuda’s Royal Gazette and its sister newspaper, the Mid-Ocean News, after premier Ewart Brown bizarrely responded to their campaign for more government transparency and a freedom of information [...]

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Filtering out the Spin

May 8th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media

Speaking about the Premier’s order for Government media representatives to reduce their contact with certain news papers, the coordinator of the well-known “Sunshine Week” freedom of information campaign says: “Cutting reporters and their news outlets out of government communications — whether it’s not sending them press releases or refusing to return reporters’ calls — is [...]

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Press Freedom

May 7th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media

Over in Bizarro World, the PLP loyalists are claiming that the Premier’s actions to muzzle the Royal Gazette are comparable to candidate Candidate Obama’s evasion of Fox News during the U.S. Election. That comparison is a farce. Once elected, President Obama assumed a responsibility to deal with all media outlets equitably.  He certainly wouldn’t dare [...]

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Government or Newspapers

May 6th, 2009 · Comments Off · Media

“Today, I lend my voice of support and admiration to all those brave men and women of the press who labour to expose truth and enhance accountability around the world. In so doing, I recall the words of Thomas Jefferson: The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object [...]

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Premier Cuts Off Media

May 6th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media, Transport

The Premier  has ordered Government communications officers to “reduce their contact” with the Royal Gazette and the Mid-Ocean News. He informed the newspapers that his move was designed “to reduce the rancour and lower the toxicity that have become the norm”. This, to put it bluntly, is sign of power and control run amok.  It [...]

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Spin O’ the Day

April 30th, 2009 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Media

Last night, the ratings agency Moody’s lowered Bermuda’s long-term foreign currency credit rating from Aa1 to Aa2, citing vulnerability to external shocks because of our country’s small size and lack of economic diversity. Moody’s also cites Bermuda growing budget deficits and Government debt.  The impact of the rate drop is that it will cost more [...]

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That’s What Friends Are For

April 20th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Bermuda Politics, Media

The Premier has once again come out blasting the UK’s intervention in the Turks & Caicos Islands as “unusually harsh and heavy-handed”. Ewart Brown said the dissolution of the British Overseas Territory’s government by the UK was the main subject of discussion at the Fifth Summit of the Americas this weekend. Hmm, well, maybe not.  [...]

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